City releases westside book and online exhibit

Book Signing at Moses Jackson

May 27, 2008

More than 150 people packed the Moses Jackson Community Center on Tuesday, May 27, to celebrate the release of an exciting new project, “Low Land and the High Road: Life and Community in the Hudson Hill, West Savannah and Woodville Neighborhoods.” The 139-page book explores the untold story of how industry and workers combined to produce a vibrant community on Savannah’s westside.

Many of the people pictured on those pages were present at Tuesday night’s event, and helped cut a pair of cakes and sign copies of “Low Land” for residents in attendance.

“You are taking a piece of history home with you tonight, and I hope when you do you will share this with a child,” said Alderman Van R. Johnson II, who hosted the event.

Today we bring together the past, the present and the future of these great neighborhoods, and for that I am pleased,” Mayor Otis Johnson said.

Dr. Keber’s account winds through the area’s history by adopting a thematic approach. Chapters on work, school, housing, faith, civil rights, and leisure activities help to present Savannah’s west side in a new light. The online multi-media exhibition, www.savannahneighborhoods.org, incorporates excerpts of resident interviews, contemporary images, and historic photographs.

“The book and its companion Web site use resident recollections and photographs to reveal a universal truth – that a community is defined by the people who work, worship, and reside there,” said Project Manager Michelle Hunter, of the City’s Cultural Affairs Department.

The project was led by the City of Savannah, with funding provided in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through appropriations by the Georgia General Assembly and the Savannah Foundation’s Emerging Leaders Committee.

The free publication will be available starting June 9. Limited supplies will be available for pickup at the City of Savannah’s Department of Cultural Affairs, 9 W. Henry St.; Diaspora Marketplace, 510 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.; and at Live Oak Public Libraries branches within the City’s corporate limits. For information, contact Michelle Hunter at 912-525-3100 ext. 2847 or mhunter@savannahga.gov.